Tianjin Medical Journal

Tianjin Med J ›› 2018, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (11): 1192-1196.doi: 10.11958/20180643

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Clinical application of pneumatic artificial larynx for voice rehabilitation after total laryngectomyClinical Application of Pneumatic Artificial Larynx for Voice Rehabilitation after Total Laryngectomy

WU Dong-qing1,2 , SUN Shi-ming2△, CAO Li-hong2 , WAN Lang1 , ER Pu-chun3   

  1. 1 Department of Otolaryngology, Huangshi Central Hospital (Affiliated Hospital of Hubei Polytechnic University), East Hubei Medical Group, Huangshi 435000, China; 2 Department of Otolaryngology, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University; 3 Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital
  • Received:2018-04-23 Revised:2018-08-18 Published:2018-11-15 Online:2018-11-20

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Abstract: Abstract: Objective To explore the structure, use and clinical application of the pneumatic artificial larynx, and to provide the reference for clinical application for patient’ s better voice rehabilitation. Methods For 15 laryngeal cancer patients underwent total laryngectomy, the pneumatic artificial larynxes developed by ourselves were applied for voice rehabilitation. The structure, pronunciation principle and application effect of the pneumatic artificial larynxes were studied. The hearing distance method, voice subjective auditory-perceptual evaluation method (GRBAS scale) and voice handicap index (VHI) scale were used to assess the pronunciation effect. And the patients were followed up. Results Fifteen cases basically could communicate as normal after training for one week. Evaluation of pronunciation effect: 14 cases (93.33%) reached level Ⅰ to level Ⅱ evaluated by hearing distance method, 15 patients were 0 to 1 points, except for one case with 2 points (with voice weakness A) evaluated by GRBAS scale. The total scores of VHI scale were significantly lower after two- week pronunciation training compared with one-week pronunciation training in 14 patients (P＜0.01). There was a significant correlation between function (F), physiology (P) and emotion (E) after one week pronunciation training. There was no significant correlation between F, P and E after two-week pronunciation training. Follow-up results showed that 12 cases could speak fluently and clearly, reaching the success rate of 85.7% excluding one case died because of tumor recurrence. Conclusion The application of pneumatic artificial larynx can make the patient without larynx to speak clearly and fluently, and maintain the original linguistic features. The method is easy to operate and has high success rate, and the longer training time, the better the pronunciation effect is, which is worthy of clinical promotion for application.

Key words: laryngectomy, pneumatic artificial larynx, voice rehabilitation, pronunciation effect, subjective assessment